The Harris County Flood Control District is pleased to announce an award of nearly $250 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to remove accumulated sediment in channels, creeks and bayous across eight watersheds. The sediment to be removed from the Willow Creek, White Oak Bayou, Spring Creek, Little Cypress Creek, Greens Bayou, Cypress Creek, Barker Reservoir and Addicks Reservoir watersheds was deposited during flooding from Hurricane Harvey.

 

"This award allows us to continue the huge task of removing sediment from Flood Control District channels. It is estimated that more than 2.13 million cubic yards of sediment accumulated in multiple watersheds during the storm - enough to fill 213,000 dump trucks,” said Alan Black, Harris County Flood Control District Interim Executive Director.

 

“It will take several years to complete construction, but this award will allow us to make repairs to the drainage system and to restore the facility back to pre-disaster design, capacity and function. The federal cost share for this project is 90 percent, which allows our local taxpayer dollars to go further. We are extremely thankful to FEMA and TDEM," he continued.

 

The Flood Control District will be responsible for the remaining 10 percent of the project cost. However, thanks to legislation passed by the Texas State Legislature in 2019, which established the Texas Infrastructure Resiliency Fund – Hurricane Harvey Account, the State of Texas is expected to reimburse up to 75 percent of that local share, bringing the total cost to the Flood Control District down to approximately $6.25 million. The cutting-edge methods used by the Flood Control District team have rarely, if ever, been used on such a scale and took several years of close collaboration with the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) and FEMA to receive approval. Removal of sediment will be phased as the design is completed and complex environmental permits are secured, with the first construction expected to start sometime in late 2022.